My wife and I and another couple will be landing at Heathrow around 8:00 pm ona Tuesday in May and want a hotel near Heathrow (30 mins or so) on the Picadilly line since that is the tube that services Heathrow. The next day we are renting acar and driving to the Cotswolds for a stay at a farm house. Does anyone know of any hotels onnthis line that are walkable from the tube. Somebody mentioned Hammersmith as a nice area but I can't find any hotels in that area. Our plan is to get a hotel and then spend the night with dinner and a Pub. Since we will have all our luggage (we travel light but still at least one siutcase per couple) I don't want to lug it too far to a hotel. Looking for something inexpensive but clean. Have stayed in local hotels throughout Europe and Asia but this is the first trip to Britain. This will possibly be our only night in London. Plan to do London on a separate trip another time but don't want to just hang out at the airport and eat airport food. We are coming from the East Coast so it won't be real late east coast time for us. All suggestions will be considered.

Not what you are asking - but instead of staying in an outlying area of London I'd either

1) Stay on the Piccadilly line the extra 10-15 mins into central London and stay in South Kens or thereabouts.

or

2) (and my actual preference in your situation) Go to Windsor instead. You could wander around the town, walk over the river, stop in a pub, etc. Then the next day pick up your car and be just an hour or so from the Cotswolds

There are tons of hotels near LHR. Just do a web search for Hotels LHR.

A simple search gave me this site which has quite a bit about Heathrow:

http://www.heathrowguide.com/

I used to stay at a hotel called the Post House, but I believe it's changed names. Hotel nothing special, but a great pub near the hotel. Find a hotel with a pub nearby and you will have a good, simple dinner and a pint or two.

There's a Novotel in Hammersmith.

Ramada Jarvis Hotel just outside Ealing Common tube station. There are some pubs in Ealing. The Continental Hotel in Hounslow has just opened and is near a tube station, maybe Hounslow West?

I like janisj's suggestion of Windsor but get the car first. It will save hassles. Jet lag is no issue since it is 5 hours earlier at home. Traffic is light near LHR in the evening. After the daytime flight from Toronto we find that we have no need of a meal on arrival because Air Canada has fed us enough but having a pint after the flight is lovely idea.

Taking the Underground into London means a lot of time and effort with no payoff of seeing much of London.

Millennium Bailey's and Millennium Gloucester are right across the street from the Piccadilly line at Gloucester Rd station. There is also a Holiday Inn on Cromwell Rd that is directly across from the same tube station.

If it were me though, I'd follow Janis's suggestion, pick up the car at heathrow when you land, and spend the night in Windsor. We've done that several times. It's just a short drive from the airport...around 15 minutes as I recall. There are several nice hotels and some good restaurants there as well.

Great suggestions. Appreciate the info on hotels as I was having trouble finding anything in Hammersmith. Only reason i hesitate picking up the car that evening is this will be the first time driving in Europe on the other side of the road (Had no ploblems in France, Germany, Italy, eastern Europe on the USA side). Since this will be dark I wasn't sure that was the time to test my skills. If Windsor is that close, I am tending to lean on driving to there. Could see Windsor and get to the Cotswolds later the next day. Plan to get an automatic (usually drive stick in Europe) to simpify the transition. What do you people think?

At least wait until the sun is up before driving. Take a taxi or bus to Windsor, get that pint, spend the night, and start your rental contract the next day.

There is something to be said for the proposition that a stick shift actually facilitates the transition to left-side driving, because it keeps the difference uppermost in your mind. With an automatic, there might be a tendency to get complacent and lose it entirely when you come to a roundabout. On the other hand, there are examples that require intense concentration, and having the stick on the left might be a distraction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:S...dabout_eng.png

You could either pick up the car that evening or wait until the next day. There are rental agencies in Windsor so if you did decide to wait til day 2 - you would not have to backtrack to LHR.

Besides the majors - there is a local agency http://www.baldockscarhire.co.uk/ that has very good rates. I've used them several times when I wanted a car somewhere near/west of LHR

Don't worry - you'll never be anywhere near the Magic Roundabout in Swindon.

If are going to drive in the UK you have to learn sometime. The short drive to Windor would a good first lesson. It will get easier as you acquire experience.

Reserving an automatic transmission car is not necessarily the same as getting one. The last time I booked a car at LHR (Hertz) I asked for an automatic because there was only a small premium over a manual. When we arrived the first question was: "Can you drive a manual?" An appropriate discount was agreed to. If you can change gears with your right hand you can probably to do it with your left hand too.

Is it only the steering wheel that is switched or are the pedals backwards also. ie do I use my left foot for the gas and the right for the clutch and brake or do they keep those the same as in the USA?

OMG! - no! If the pedals were reversed too we'd have a lot more problems that just shifting w/ our left hands.

the brake/clutch/gas pedals are the same everywhere (but you will turn on the windscreen wipers when you really mean to use the turn signals - almost guaranteed )